The cost of sending a group of students to visit UCLA is $507, including <a target="new" href="http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm" onclick="g_openWindow('http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm', 300, 800, 'fulfillwindow');return false;">fulfillment</a>.
$522 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
On a regular basis I tell my 28 fourth graders that I expect each and every one of them to go to college. I think they like that idea. They certainly smile when I say it. I tell them that a college education is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity. You cannot support a family on the salary they pay at McDonalds or Wal-Mart--and you certainly cannot afford to buy health coverage!
But most of them do not have the slightest idea what it takes to get to college or what goes on there. They don't know anyone who went to college (except me and other teachers) and they have never even been on a college campus.
They are first or second generation immigrants with parents who had little or no education in Mexico (many are from Oaxaca, the poorest state in Mexico). Their families speak Spanish, or Zapoteco; they believe in education and they support our school in many ways, but the world of higher education is foreign to them.
That is the very reason why I want to start introducing my students to the idea of college now, in fourth grade. And I have to do more than talk about it, I have to take them to see college. They need the opportunity to walk around a college campus and meet college students--especially students who come from a similar background.
Several local universities have just such a program. They would welcome with open arms my class and help mentor them. But neither they nor my district will fund such a trip. The opportunity to start developing a relationship with college is free, but the bus ride is not.
I am asking for a field trip to visit a world-class university, UCLA, that has an outreach program specifically designed for elementary school students at risk--namely poor urban minorities. You can help by paying for the school bus. The bus holds up to 66 students; therefore, in order to use our resources to their fullest my class will be accompanied by the 5th grade class next to mine.
If past statistics are any measure, half of the students at my school will never graduate high school (1/2 of Latinos in LAUSD do not finish high school). Please help me to give my students the experiences they need to set high academic goals for their life. There is no substitute for personal experience--mereley talking about college is not enough. My students may never go in college if they have never been to college.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Stanton and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
